New Delhi [India], June 25 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at multiple locations in Ghaziabad and Delhi as part of its investigation into an alleged housing society fraud involving a real estate developer and cooperative society officials.
The search operation is underway and being conducted by ED's Lucknow zonal office under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the probe against Sandeep Singh, promoter of Shrasth Propbuild Pvt Ltd, and office-bearers of Seva Suraksha Sahkari Awas Samiti.
Officials, privy to the development, told ANI that "the accused allegedly induced members of the cooperative housing society to surrender their rights over around 41,544 square metres of land located at Akbarpur Bahrampur residential locality in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad on the promise of providing residential flats under a redevelopment project.
Investigators suspect that the accused subsequently misused the development rights obtained from society members and fraudulently sold society land and flats to third parties. Officials allege that the transactions generated proceeds of crime are now under scrutiny under anti-money laundering laws.
Officials said the searches are being undertaken to gather evidence related to the alleged laundering of funds and trace the flow of proceeds generated through the purported fraud.
Earlier on June 24, the Enforcement Directorate strongly objected to the interim bail plea of Al-Falah Trust chairman Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui in the Rs 493-crore money laundering case, saying the accused may dissipate or conceal the proceeds of crime allegedly acquired through criminal activities.
The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for July 8. Al-Falah chairman Siddiqui had sought six weeks of interim bail for his wife's cancer treatment.
On June 17, the Delhi High Court sought a status report from the ED on Siddiqui's interim bail plea. Siddiqui had approached the HC after his plea was dismissed by the trial court.
The ED stated in its reply on Wednesday stated that the accused was the principal architect and beneficiary of a financial scheme that facilitated the collection of tuition fees through fraudulent claims regarding the university's NAAC accreditation, false UGC 12(B) claims, and alleged deception of the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), Haryana. According to the agency, these funds were subsequently diverted to family-owned entities and overseas investments.